What's in a name?

This is a writing practice I did for my Com 1050 class last week. It is the only piece of writing I have ever gotten lost in.

“What’s in a name?” I remember very distinctly disliking my name when I was five years old. I asked my mother why my parents had named me Rachael, and if I could change my name to Amy Rose. My mother’s reply was that she and my dad thought my name was beautiful, and that I would be welcome to ask her about changing my name when I got older. I have no desire to change my name now, knowing as I do that she was right: I have a beautiful name. Names bring to mind images of many things. The name of a dear friend helps me see her face and memories that we have together. Names of places, foods, activities, all these make me think of times in my life and things I have done.
The name “Florence” takes me back to the spring of 2008, when I was traveling in Italy. It reminds me of the admiration I felt when I saw the David statue. I recall strolling over the Ponte Vecchio and admiring the jewelry with my older brother. Buying coconut gelato and listening to street musicians in the plaza as we ate it. Climbing a hill and seeing the entire city spread out beneath us in the misty twilight of an April night. Florence makes me think of roast boar and bread with no salt; of beautiful brown eyes and looking down on a tiny street from our third story room.
The season name “spring” always makes me smile. No matter where I am, I can close my eyes and see the patch of crocuses in my parent’s back yard, always the first herald of my favorite season. I hear the trickle of melting snow, smell the dirt as my father shovels up the garden beds in preparation for our summer garden. I feel the anticipation of my aunt’s annual trip out to see us; the laughter and conversation that follow her arrival. Most of all, spring brings to mind the immortal joy of reawakening from winter as the sun brings warmth and life back. What is in a name? All of life is contained in names."